I found myself at loose ends for lunch today and decided to take the opportunity to sample a new BBQ joint that’s sprung up in my own backyard.

Hicks BBQ opened just last year in Belleville, IL.  I became aware of the place after one the BBQ shops in St. Louis recommended their sauce and told me about the restaraunt.  Funny how the place is within 10 mins of the house & I didn’t even know it was there.

The place is in a newer building, but on the outside it sure looks like a BBQ joint complete with a big off-set smoker in the parking lot and a front porch full of tables.  As I said, their sauce had been recommended to me.  I bought a bottle and enjoyed the heck out of it, so I stepped up to the counter to order with hopeful anticipation. 

They had a great lunch special consisting of a pulled pork or chicken sandwich, 1 side, and a drink for just $7 including tax.  So I ordered up the pulled pork lunch special and dejectedly found a seat when I found out they didn’t have sweet tea.  The place was half full when I sat down but it was completely full by the time I left.

When they brought out my lunch, I was impressed by the generous portions.  I was pleased to see they had their own sauce on the table, but surprised to see bottles of Sweet Baby Rays as well.  Oh well, I was only interested in Hicks’ own concoction so I hit the sandwich with some sauce and dug in.

The pulled pork was good, but not great.  They had applied a generous sprinkling of BBQ rub on the sandwich that provided a little flavor, but overall I didn’t taste much smoke or bark in the pork.  In fact, I’d call it chopped pork rather than pulled pork.

There’s an extensive menu there that I need to work through and the ribs looked good.  I’ll provide updates on my next trip when I try the brisket or the ribs.  Overall, I’m super pleased to see a new joint opening up and you can bet I’ll go back. 

By the way, if you get a chance to try their sauce I highly recommend it.

Here’s my final report card for Hicks Bar-B-Que Company:

• BBQ – B
• Side Dishes – B
• Atmosphere – A
• Value – A
• Overall – B+

Cheers,
Braddog

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